Hornish Wins Xfinity Race at Mid Ohio

Mike Sullivan/Getty Images

LEXINGTON, OH – RIS – After two disastrous starts in the 2017 Xfinity series, Sam Harnish used experience to win the Xfinity Mid-Ohio Challenge at the Mid-Ohio road course.  Hornish, an expert on road courses and an Indy 500 champion, won for Team Penske in a Ford Mustang. Hornish, an Ohio native, dominated in his home state.

“I think I’ve been second or third here a few times in other series but could never win here,” he said. “To finally punch that ticket means a lot to me.”

Hornish signed on to run five races for Team Penske and has two more to go in 2017.

Hornish, from Defiance, Ohio, took the lead from rookie Daniel Hemric on lap 62 of 75 after the seventh caution. He beat Hemric by 1.335 seconds for his fifth victory in 117 XFinity races.

Hemric acknowledged that Hornish had a home-course advantage, especially when it came to handling the 13 turns over the 2.258-mile track.

“Sam’s been around here a lot,” he said. “I’m proud of how we bounced back and had a chance to win at the end.”

Hornish, who was second in the race last year, led for 61 laps and avoided a 10-car pileup on lap 69 that resulted in the second red flag. There were also nine cautions.

Rookie Matt Tifft, a Hinckley, Ohio, native was third, 2.373 seconds back of Hornish. James Davison and Andy Lally completed the top five.

“We played defense a little bit,” Tifft said. “We kind of let the guys sort themselves out.”

Blake Koch won the first stage ahead of Brennan Poole. Hornish, who won the pole, easily took the second 20-lap stage by 4.645 seconds over Hemric.

After Hornish lost the lead on a pit stop, he regained it on lap 46 when he went side-by-side with Hemric through turns 5 through 9 before taking the inside position and pulling away.

“It was our race to lose today,” Hornish said. “I had a good battle with Daniel.”

Elliott Sadler, the series points leader, was sixth.

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Discount Tire Ford 75 9 1 52 Running 4 61 6
2 6 21 Daniel Hemric # Blue Gate Bank Chevrolet 75 8 2 47 Running 3 8
3 5 19 Matt Tifft # Akron Community Foundation/Acquire Investment Toyota 75 34 Running
4 11 20 James Davison Sport Clips Toyota 75 3 41 Running
5 13 07 Andy Lally Branson Supply/Motorcrush Chevrolet 75 5 38 Running
6 2 1 Elliott Sadler OneMain Financial Chevrolet 75 31 Running 1 1
7 17 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet 75 3 38 Running
8 10 48 Brennan Poole DC Solar Chevrolet 75 2 9 40 Running
9 21 42 Justin Marks Katerra Chevrolet 75 6 33 Running
10 28 28 Dakoda Armstrong WinField United Toyota 75 27 Running
11 3 11 Blake Koch LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 75 1 10 37 Running 1 3 1
12 16 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 75 7 29 Running
13 18 14 JJ Yeley TriStar Motorsports Toyota 75 24 Running
14 25 33 Brandon Jones Bali/Menards Chevrolet 75 23 Running
15 14 4 Ross Chastain teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 75 5 28 Running
16 34 46 Anthony Kumpen LeasePlan Chevrolet 75 21 Running
17 35 99 David Starr Chevrolet 75 20 Running
18 29 13 Enrique Baca Peak Coolant & Motor Oil Dodge 75 19 Running
19 30 5 Michael Annett Allstate Parts & Service Group Chevrolet 75 18 Running
20 36 40 Tim Cowen Cowen Logistics Ford 75 17 Running
21 39 52 Joey Gase Donate Life Chevrolet 75 16 Running
22 26 3 Scott Lagasse Jr. Screen Your Machine/American Cancer Society 75 15 Running
23 40 74 Cody Ware(i) Mike Harmon Racing. Dodge 75 0 Running
24 37 78 Stephen Young Wealth Recovery International Chevrolet 75 13 Running
25 23 9 William Byron # AXALTA - Ambassador Supply Chevrolet 67 12 Accident
26 7 2 Ben Kennedy # Rheem Chevrolet 67 8 14 Accident
27 15 24 Dylan Lupton Nut Up Toyota 67 10 Accident
28 12 18 Regan Smith(i) Interstate Batteries Toyota 67 7 0 Accident
29 22 8 Josh Bilicki Prevagen Chevrolet 67 10 9 Accident
30 33 0 Garrett Smithley Wheeling Nailers Chevrolet 67 7 Accident
31 8 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 67 4 13 Accident
32 19 98 Casey Mears GEICO Military Ford 64 5 Engine
33 4 16 Ryan Reed Lilly Diabetes Ford 57 4 11 Accident 1 2
34 32 01 Sheldon Creed United Rentals Chevrolet 56 3 Running
35 9 00 Cole Custer # Haas Automation Ford 54 2 Running
36 24 23 Spencer Gallagher # Allegiant Airlines Chevrolet 51 1 Accident
37 20 51 Jeremy Clements BRT Extrusions Chevrolet 51 6 6 Accident
38 27 90 Matt Bell ACTEVMOTORS.com Chevrolet 15 1 Accident
39 31 93 Jeff Green RSS Racing Chevrolet 9 1 Transmission
40 38 89 Morgan Shepherd Racing With Jesus Chevrolet 5 1 Handling
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 38 Mins, 23 Secs. Average Speed: 64.154 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.335 Seconds
11,48,62,16,4,51,39,21,22,8
22,21,20,7,07,42,18,2,48,11
Race Comments: Sam Hornish Jr. won the Mid-Ohio Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, his fifth victory in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: Nos. 52, 18 (unapproved adjustments), 51, 07 (unapproved tire change) and 00, 13 (backup car).
Failed to Qualify: N/A
Caution Flags: 9 for 27 laps: Laps: 3-7 (Fluid On Track [None]); 17-18 (#90 Incident Turn 1 [Red Flag 13:31] [46]); 22-23 (Stage 1 Conclusion [78]); 42-44 (Stage 2 Conclusion [52]); 49-51 (#78 Stopped In Turn 2 [01]); 53-57 (#18, 11, 16, 51, 23 Incident Turn 5 [78]); 59-61 (#16, 42, 18 Incident Turn 2 [78]); 66-67 (#98 Stopped On Track [00]); 69-70 (#24, 99, 14, 7, 2, 8, 18, 9, 39, 0 Incident Turn 1 [Red Flag 11:10] [01]).
Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers: S. Hornish Jr. 1-17; E. Sadler 18; B. Koch 19-21; R. Reed 22-23; D. Hemric # 24; S. Hornish Jr. 25-42; D. Hemric # 43-45; S. Hornish Jr. 46-57; D. Hemric # 58-61; S. Hornish Jr. 62-75.
Coors Light Pole Award : Sam Hornish Jr, #22 96.863 mph Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Roush-Yates Engines, #22
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race : Matt Tifft, #19 Sunoco Rookie of the Race : Daniel Hemric, #21
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2017, Issue 8, Posted 1:25 AM, 08.13.2017